Bringing to life one of Australia’s most revered TV characters — the formidable Bea Smith of Wentworth — Cormack has been both critically acclaimed and a crowd pleaser. She was memorable in SBS’s underrated Deep Water.

As for our runner-up, Gardner is the unsung hero of Australian TV. The newsreader — often overshadowed by more publicity hungry peers — provided the voiceover for Married At First Sight. It’s the biggest show of the year and her contribution didn’t go unnoticed.

BEST ACTOR

Winner: Elizabeth Debicki

ELIZABETH Debicki has made her mark not only on Australian television but also on the silver screen.

Her performance on Foxtel’s critical darling The Kettering Incident was TV’s best and she is now starring in one of the year’s biggest Hollywood movies, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2.

She may not like being compared to Cate Blanchett, but surely it is only a matter of time before she is held in the same esteem.

Hugh Weaving has been inducted into the Togies Hall of Fame.Source:News Corp Australia

HALL OF FAME

Winner: Hugo Weaving

BOASTING a stellar career that’s spanned 35 years, Hugo Weaving is acting royalty and has burst back onto the small screen with ABC drama Seven Types Of Ambiguity. He’s a silent achiever and one of the country’s best character actors.

BEST VILLAIN

Winner: Amber Sherlock

THE footage had the world talking — “Jacketgate”. The Channel 9 presenter snatches the title for top villain for her frankly terrifying ability to go off at Julie Snook off-screen over clashing white clothes before emerging on camera as a model of professionalism.

Married At First Sight’s Alene is the Togies hero. Picture: Nigel HallettSource:News Corp Australia

HERO

Winner: Alene, Married At First Sight

IT took a girl from Western Sydney to show Australia not all reality TV contestants are loud, brash or promiscuous. Proving some people enter romance shows genuinely looking for love, Alene may not be all over the glossy mags, but she is Togies’ hero.

BEST ABC SEGMENT

Winner: Natasha Exelby

WHO else? It was refreshing to finally see someone with a bit of personality presenting on the ABC.

ABC News 24 presenter Natasha Exelby.Source:Supplied

MOST OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER

Winner: Sam Mac

IT was always going to be hard to fill Edwina Bartholomew’s shoes on Sunrise but Sam Mac hasn’t missed a beat. From rebooting Strawberry Kisses and making the iTunes charts to going viral when he was ­featured in Confidential’s Spotted, Mac is always fun to watch.

BEST PRESENTER

Winner: Yvonne Sampson

FOXTEL knew that they were striking gold when they lured Yvonne Sampson over to be the face of their new Fox Footy channel. Skilled, smart and likeable, she’s streets ahead of the pack.

BEST ENTERTAINMENT

Winner: Gogglebox

Married At First Sight wins the Togies Best Reality segment. Picture: Nine NetworkSource:Supplied

GIVE them a glass of wine and a bucket of popcorn and it turns out normal Australians watching TV morphs into something more entertaining than much of TV itself.

BEST REALITY

Winner: Married At First Sight

THE fly-on-the wall, warts-and-all dating show has dominated ratings and will have a big influence of the rollout of future reality TV series.

The producers cleverly cherrypicked the best elements of their competition to create a Frankenstein format that can’t be beaten.

BEST DRAMA

Winner: Big Little Lies

THIS superb drama — based on Liane Moriarty’s best-selling novel about the lives of privileged women on Sydney’s northern beaches — really pushed the envelope for prime time TV with Skype sex, domestic violence and nudity all front and centre.

The explosive combination of BFFs Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon and man of the moment Alexander Skarsgard captured international headlines and, more importantly, eyeballs.